The vacation we have had planned for over a year is finally here. The three of us are going to the Northshore of Oahu for 8 days to relax with two other couples. There will be three babies, Anya- 11 1/2 months, Lucy- 12 1/2 months and Owen 18 months. This is a house we have stayed in three other times so it is starting to feel like home. One of the couples we are traveling with (the Piskels) owns the home on Sunset beach so to say we are spoiled is an understatement. I'm sure we will have plenty of adorable pictures to post when we return.
Upon our return Anya turns 1- I can't believe it. A whole year has past and our baby girl is getting so grown up already. Tantrums have started when changing diapers, she nearly walks, she is talking more and more everyday, pretty soon she will be asking for the car keys and I will have to start taking Valium.
Recently we have been having lots of fun playing and discovering the great outdoors. Myles and I have undertaken a few yard projects and Anya sits outside under the umbrella eating snacks and trying to eat dirt. She loves the grass under her toes and has decided dirt is much better to play with than to eat.
This past weekend we took a reunion trip with three other families to Fort Worden. It was a blast. Growing up, we traveled as a group to Fort Worden every year with these same four families. Now we are all grown and decided it would be fun to re-live the trip as adults. We rented out a few of the officer's houses and all stayed for the weekend. As kids we used to bike, play on the beach, fly kites in the grass field, and generally have a lot of fun. Our activities changed but the same level of group comradery was experienced by all. We took a walk up to the "bunkers" and it is just as scary as I remember. We had three third generation members in attendance, Anya (11 months), Lydia Freeman (19 months), and Mira Bahtia (7 weeks). All babies were too adorable.
Anya got a bad cold on Friday night and since we were sharing a room no one slept. I mean I actually contemplated packing up the car and driving home at 2am because I thought at least she might sleep sitting upright in her carseat. Eventually she did go to sleep but we were red eyed all day Saturday. Lydia woke with a fever on Sunday morning so our weekend was not without it's share of illness, but thankfully sweet Mira came away unscathed.
As embarrassing as the pictures are now as adults, it was tradition to bathe the kids together. So of course we will torture our own children in the same fashion. The three girls were absolutely hilarious in the bath together. Up until this point Lydia had despised the bath tub- but apparently bathing in groups agrees with her.
On Sunday, Myles, Scott, Natalie and I stayed on to run in the Rhody Run. An annual run through Fort Worden/Port Townsend in honor of the Rhododendron festival. It was a 12K and stroller friendly so Anya participated in her first race. Myles insisted he would be staying with me during the race but knowing him the way I do we decided on a meeting place afterward "just in case". Sure enough about mile 3 he pushed ahead with Anya in the BOB and never looked back. We are pretty sure he was the first "stroller runner" to cross the finish line- but who's counting? :)
Other things that have occurred recently in Anya's life......
She honored me on Mother's day with a beautiful breakfast and dinner. Myles also made me an awesome DVD with pictures and captions of my first year as a mom- it was a tear jerker, I'm not gonna lie.
She still has only two front bottom teeth. She is drooly as all get out but no more teeth have cut through.
As much as I have enjoyed nursing Anya the time came to call it quits. When she had her fever she didn't eat for a few days and that pretty much sealed the deal for my milk supply. 11 months was a good run and I do miss the closeness already, but the freedom is nice too. We are sticking to soy formula until she hits one and then we launch into soy milk.
Her allergies have been kind of a pain. She is such a good eater that it's really a shame she can't just eat what we eat. I did give her a garden burger which is made with some mozzarella and she was fine, so maybe cheese is OK? Hopefully she out grows the allergy but until then her diet is a bit restrictive.
We took Anya wine tasting up in Woodinville. Who knew it was totally kosher to taste wine with your baby in tow. It was awesome and will soon be repeated.
